Pranks aren’t funny – many lessons

Hoaxes, pranks, practical jokes. The media are a common target of these. Stay vigilant.

A recent prank was played on KTVU-TV in the San Francisco Bay Area. The station issued an apology after an anchor read fake names that were a play on Asian names and were racially offensive.

The names were reported as those of the four pilots of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 that crashed in San Francisco last Saturday.

How the hoax succeeded:

KTVU-TV said it had made a mistake by not phonetically sounding out the names. “We heard this person verify the information without questioning who they were and then rushed the names on our noon newscast.”

The National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement, “Earlier today, in response to an inquiry from a media outlet, a summer intern acted outside the scope of his authority when he erroneously confirmed the names of the flight crew on the aircraft. The NTSB does not release or confirm the names of crewmembers or people involved in transportation accidents to the media.”

Universal advice:

Time is an enemy. Don’t rush to publication.

Interns can be inexperienced. Know your role – and adhere to your assigned responsibilities.

Pranksters are out there. Stay vigilant.

Special note to boot campers: This is an example of how errors can happen even when you go to the primary source. If someone out there wants to get a hoax by you, it can easily happen. A go-to source is Strategy 37: Digital Deadlines in the second edition of “Think Like an Editor.” Review it regularly for timeless tips.